


Chronicles of magia

by Athygar



Category: Fantasy - Fandom, Horror - Fandom, Original Works
Genre: Multi, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-14
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-07 03:54:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,556
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26466763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Athygar/pseuds/Athygar
Summary: 4 kids from two distant families come together in a battle against a calamity thought to be a myth, and a mysterious woman from a different realm. Jydyn is just trying to keep his sister safe while his sister, kanimarly, discovers who they truly are. Twins who cam from riches and fell to nothing just want to find a home where they can be safe, shinee is more than willing to do anything to get this, while shiar is just wanting to protect everyone. Many dangers await this unlikey group, but will the four stay together or will they come down to a three, or even less,





	1. Runaways

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time putting out an original story so input is appreciated! I hope you like what i have in store for these poor, poor, kids😈

“Come on Mar! We’re going to be late!”  
Two children ran towards the Center square, free as the wind and twice as wild, darting between stalls selling food and carnival trinkets and townspeople dressed in parkarts and toretas. A little girl, navy blue-almost-black locks of hair flying behind her, ran after an older boy calling jubilantly  
“JJ-anam wait up! You're too fast!”  
The boy halted by a stall selling lamintar fans. Kanimarly made it over to the older boy, panting. She was scooped up by the older boy with a squeal of joy. The boy put her on his back and ran once again through the throngs of people on their way to the myfthargoi carnival. Kanimarly led the boy through the carnival to her favourite attraction, the sword dancing stage. 

“Mar, why do you like sword dancing so much? It’s a boy’s sport! Why don’t we watch the mythfatho dancers instead? That’s something girly.”  
“Because JJ-anam, I wanna use swords as my conduit!”  
“But Parpëa said you can’t use swords! If they find out they’ll be furi-“  
A woman that shared the boy’s purple-almost-black hair swooped down to their level, a wide and loving smile across her delicate lips. Kanimarly giggled and chirped  
“Maturëa! Why are you here? Aren’t you performing the mythfatho dance? It’s about to start!”  
Her mother laughed, and said with a genuine song on her voice,  
“well, I’m not about to let my chihëa miss it now am I? Come along, let’s go to the main stage!”  
Without another word she scooped up the young children and swept off to the center of the carnival.

“Shinee! Shiar! Come here at once!”  
A man roared from a lavish office. Two young girls rushed through the grand hall of the Havarsh estate. “Coming Parpëa! We will be there in a moment!” The taller girl called down the hall as she ran, pulling her sister with her. The two girls entered the office breathing heavily.  
“Now girls, I have news for you two. You both are going to the academy for the next couple years, it’s for the best-”  
“WHAT? No! We want to stay here, right Shiar?”  
“Sïe I think we should do what Parpëa wants. He knows what’s best right?”  
“No! He just wants us gone so he can marry that witch of a duchess! He just wants us gone so that he can replace Maturëa! He’s going to replace her Sïe!”  
“ENOUGH! I’m insulted you two would think I would replace your mother! She only passed the last lunar cycle! Shinee, to your room now!”

“JJ-anam! JJ-anam! Look! Look! It’s Maturëa! Look!”  
“Yes! I see her sïe. Isn’t she pretty?”  
“Yes, she is! She’s the prettiest!”  
The awestruck girl watched as her mother dances through ribbons and lights, dancing the praises of their town to their gods above the sky. Suddenly a rumble, primal and rage-filled, ripped through the sky. Everyone stopped moving, the music stopped, all dancers froze, and everyone looked up at the sky.

“Shinee! Shiar! Where are you!”  
Mr. Havarsh ran through his estate, shouting for his children frantically as the walls cracked and crumbled around him. A roar broke through the din of the walls, matched by the screams of the Havarsh daughters. Mr. Havarsh’s blood ran cold, no, anything but them, don’t take them, gods don’t take them! He got to his children to see a dragon, crystal blue and emitting a cold that froze the ground under its talons, standing over the small girls. The man pulled the first thing he found from the ground and ran at the dragon, roaring in desperation,  
”stay away from my chihëa you monster!”  
He struck the gargantuan lizard with the object he pulled from the ground. He drew green blood from the creature, matched by its roar of pain. He pulled the sword from its leg as it took to the air. Panting from adrenaline, he rushed to his daughters gasping,  
“Shinee, Shiar, are you two alright?”  
The smaller girl was sobbing against her sister, terror ran cold through him as he put a hand on the oldest twin, and it came back red. He immediately picked up both girls and ran for the remains of the house, whispering  
“it’s ok, Parpëa is going to protect you two, it’s ok, I’ll make sure you're safe.”  
Mr. Havarsh set his daughters down inside of the office, where not even an hour ago he had shouted at his child, and after making sure Shiar was alright he turned to Shinee. He put a hand over the large gash on her stomach, and with a deep breath, he channelled his magia to the surface. He glanced at Shiar, who was sitting at his side, holding her twin’s hand and looking at the small ball of light forming between her Sïe and her Parpëa. He looked back at his dying daughter and sighed before he grabbed the ball of magia and placed it in the gash on her stomach. Almost immediately, Shinee began to heal, the colour came back into her features, her breathing evened out and her stomach closed up, leaving only a scar behind. Shinee sat up and opened her eyes, gripping her twin’s hand in a vice grip, looking around in fear for a moment before she realized what happened. Her father held his chihëa close to himself with a sigh of relief,  
“thank the gods, I thought I would lose you two as well!”  
Suddenly a voice hissed from the hall  
“missstrisss, the escapeess are in that room, can I ssstill eat them?” before they could react, a woman's voice said “not yet Glacilyt, I want to have some of the fun too. Wait here.”

Kanimarly and her brother hid in an alleyway, struggling to stay quiet as the umbra slaughtered their town. A large umbra suddenly fell in front of the alleyway the siblings hid in, and a large, burly guard stepped over the corpse and looked into the alleyway.  
“Parpëa! What’s happening? Wh-“  
Kanimarly interrupted her brother,  
“Where is Maturëa? Is she ok?”  
Their father rushed them out of the alleyway and said  
“Jaydyn, take your sister and go to your aunt Ravens’ house! You know the way! Run, and don’t stop until you get there, I’ll meet you there and find your mother alright? Now go! Run Jaydyn!”  
Jaydyn picked up his sister and took the flintlock his father handed him, he turned as his father let out a battle cry and charged into a throng of the umbra. Jaydyn ran, firing his flintlock at the umbra to clear a path for him and some other kids who were running towards the forest. Soon Jaydyn set his sister down and said,  
“Mar, listen to me; you need to run to aunt Ravens’ house on the big hill by the lake, ok? Run I’m right behind you, just keep running and don’t stop. Ok? Now go!”  
He gave her a small shove to get her going and he turned around, facing the hoard of umbra coming at them. He reloaded his flintlock and prayed that he could buy his sister time. Four rounds left, let's make them count, for Mar, Parpëa, and Martuëa.


	2. Darted safety

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The children fear for their lives as the adults who are supposed to protect them are slaughtered before them, just how many will die before the gods are satisfied?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again i hope you all give me feedback, it would help so much! Enjoy some more death dread, as a treat😉

“ Girls, stay behind me and when I say; run for the front gate and don’t stop until you’re far from here.”  
“ but parpëa! What about you? The draco is still out there!”  
It’s ok, I can handle that slimy piece of stercore! Just wait for my signal!” Mr.Havarsh hoisted his sword and gently guided his children behind him before he once again channelled his magia, and found he had much more than he thought he had, perfect, I can create a shield if I need to now. He watched as a woman in proditores robes, with fiery, yet icy cold orange eyes pushed open the door. She purred, fully aware they were trapped,  
” My, my, my! Look who we have here Glacilyt! The esteemed Portarm Havarsh, the hero of the western front! We have a great catch, my dear!”  
“ It seems,” Portarm hissed, eyes darting from the woman to the dragon beyond the doorway,  
“ I have a fan here, yes? If you know my name then you know I will not hesitate.”  
His words were spat out short and hard, betraying his anger.  
“ Well, aren’t you so sure of yourself?” The woman looked at the twins just beyond their father and chirped,  
“ hello there girls! Aren’t you two just a spitting image of your mother! I wonder if you're as strong as her too!” Her eyes took on a glint of malice,” only one way to find out isn’t there?”  
Portarm struck the woman with a hard kick, throwing her back out the doorway with a sharp crack. Flames filled the hallway as the woman waltzed back into the office, no humour left on her face, just pure anger. Without a witty quip or a threat, she released her own magia, a bright orange radiance. Portarm’s magia rose as well, a light golden-yellow, and they clashed on both the mortal and inphysical planes. The girls stood by the broken window, frozen in terror as their father fought just like he had before their birth, in his long past prime. They were shaken from their frozen state by his shout.  
“ Chihëa! Run now!!”  
The girls practically flew out the window and ran towards the gate.

Kanimarly ran, tears running down her face as fear struck a chord in her. Jj-anam! The older boy fired one bullet, and his magia, a simple green, rolled over the forest floor, the force of it threw her into a nearby tree, drawing a speck of blood from her head. She just kept running, praying her brother was behind her. Please, Jaydyn, please don’t die! Not like everyone else! She heard a shout, and a bright green flash enveloped the forest. She felt a hard crack against her head, then nothing.

Jaydyn fires his flintlock, channelling his magia into the bullets. A simple green tore through the umbra in front of him, exploding the darkness to little shards, like glass breaking. He saw more coming, he can’t hold them off for long, he knows this, yet he can’t let Kanimarly get taken by these rerum. He charged his next bullet with every ounce of magia he had left, held his breath and fired. I’m sorry maturëa, parpëa. Please watch over Mar, please save her!

Portarm heard his daughters flee through the window as he charged the woman before him, his blood coursing with magia he hadn’t known he had. The woman just dodged and parried his attacks like he was a fly, almost like a game to her. This cagna! She’s just toying with me dannazione cagna! I’m a god revered imperator! Fight like one! Portarm struck out with his sword, golden yellow light shot out, connecting with the woman as she hit true as well. Blood poured from the wound in Portarm’s midsection, coating the ground slick and forcing him to hold his own innards where they belonged. The woman just shook her arm out, the bloody slash healing over as she stood over the fallen former soldier.  
“ Well well well! I would have thought you were a better fighter, being the sole survivor of the western front!-“ she spat those words like venom from a snakes fangs,  
” oh well! Maybe your chihëa will give me a better fight!”  
She looked to where the girls had been earlier and frowned, anger boiling just as much as her cold, orange magia. She bared her teeth in a threatening snarl,  
“WHERE are your Chihëa, Portarm? Did you send them off for a chase!?”  
The cold dragonize voice from the hall outside dralled, as if bored,  
“ Missstrisss, do you want me to retrieve them for you? May I hunt the sssmall childrensss?”  
“ Go, be swift. We have a purpose for one of the girls. Kill the other if she puts up another fight like before!”  
The dragon set off, wings pumping itself after the young girls.  
“ Now, Portarm, I need something from you, I need-“ Portarm interrupted the woman,  
“ I’ll never give you anything, you dannazione Cagna!”  
“ My my! Such a tongue on you! How about we fix that?”

A winged man flew towards Fiumeoppidum, hoping he wasn’t too late. It had been hours since the thunder, but raven had not let him come for their family. She sent him off after the thunder had stopped, but they both knew that it could be too late. Please be ok, please be safe with your parents, please… a flash came from the treeline in front of him. Jydyn! Terror ran a chord through his back, his wings became unsteady for a moment before he dove, circling to the ground where surrounded by the melting shards of the umbra, lie Jydyn. His blood ran cold. As the winged man kneeled by the fallen child he groaned, groggy from exhaustion. He murmured, surprisingly loud for a barely conscious kid,  
“ tyroc-umhëa? What happened?”  
“You just slaughtered about 30 umbrae with one shot kid, don’t worry your safe now though.” tyroc said quickly, quelling the boy’s fear. He looked around for a moment and said,  
“I’ll take you to ravens house, for now, there we can fill in the blanks and find your parpëa and Maylel, ok?” the boy just nodded. Tyroc picked the child up and walked through the trees, flying would take way more energy then he had to spare. He glanced around, and asked’  
“ where is kanimarly? Is she still in the village?” fear struck him, a now-familiar feeling, as he thought just what state the little girl could be in. Jydyn said quietly,  
“ she ran towards aunt ravens house, I tried to hold off the umbra until she could run far enough away to be safe--” jydyn cut himself off with a cry,  
“MAR!”  
He scrambled to the girl’s side, tears of horror across his cheeks. Tyroc crouched beside him and checked his niece, sigh in relief.  
“ shes alive, just knocked out. She might have been hit with that blast you made and fell over. She’s ok though.” the boy look horrified to know he might have hurt his sister, but relieved to know she was alright. Tyroc heard a cart wheeling its way towards them and stood, his wings unfurling to tent the children protectively and turned his head to the path.  
“ RAVEN! Over here! I found the kids!” the woman stopped the cart and called back.  
“ ok, I’ll come in there! One second!” she steaded the horses and hopped off the cart, running into the woods. She saw the kids and immediately hugged them both gently. Raven picked up jydyn, comforting him as tyroc gently gathered the small girl in his arms holding her close. The four got into the cart, raven guiding the horses back towards the large hill marking the farmstead. Tyroc held both children, wings wrapped around them like blankets, and he finally breathed a sigh, tension falling from his shoulders. All we need to find are maylel and byron… but I doubt we’ll find them both alive. 

Shinee and Shiar ran furiously through the ruble of everything they’ve ever known, crying as they fled, leaving behind the last person they could call family. The girls heard the beat of the wings of the Draco, of Deaths’ wings. Shinee saw the flash of armour, the ethereal glow of a dominus’ magia, an icy teal blue, and the shadow of the Draco retreating from the academy guards. The girls stumbled out of the remains of their home and were immediately taken to a tall woman in a tarp-covered cart. She made sure the girls were uninjured before she asked them the first question,  
“ are you two Shinee and Shiar Harvarsh? Where is your father?” the girls looked at one another, Shinee answered.  
“ yes, I’m Shinee, shes Shiar. We ran away from Parpëa , he was keeping a strange lady from getting to us, she had orange magia and was attacking Parpëa like she was from the lost kingdom!”  
“ girls, you know the lost kingdom is fake. It is just a story! Where was your father? In the courtyard?”  
Shinee was interrupted before she could argue with the dominus,  
“ he was in his office, i-i heard a shout and I’m worried parpëa is hurt!” Shiar looks at the severe woman, silently begging for help. The woman sighed and turned to the opened flap on the cart, where a guard stood, clad in armour shining in the dawn light.  
“ search the grounds, find the father. The chihëa saw him last in his office. Keep watch of a woman with orange magia.” the woman clasped her hands together in prayer,  
“Be swift and may the gods watch over thou.”  
The guard only nodded their head in thanks before they turned and called over the group of soldiers,  
“ search the grounds! Find retired imperator harvarsh! Fan out men!”  
A soldier piped up from the back of the formation,  
“ There are mostly women here sir, you brought the LEGIO-Feminea.”  
The captain blinked, caught off guard.  
“ my apologies,” they cleared their throat  
“ fan out women!”  
“ yes sir!”

Portarm wheezed, barely able to see straight through the pain. The woman with orange eyes sneered down at the falling man, secure in her victory.  
“ well, well Portarm! I thought you were stronger than that! After all, you did kill the dragon of westgate point didn’t you?” Her eyes somehow grew colder than before,  
“ or did you just take credit for that?”  
She slashed her hand down, orange magia flashing darkly. With a cough and a splatter of gore staining his floor, Portarm Harvarsh watched as his own inards slipped off the tip of her magia spear. His eyes dimmed, he knew he would die there, unable to see his children flourish into the women he knew they would. I love you both, I’m sorry. The woman backed away from the corpse, satisfaction glinting in her eyes like a catchlight.  
“ Glacilyt, burn this old fool!” There was a shifting behind the doors, as if the gargantuan beast was scared of the bloodsoaked woman.  
“ oh I know your there hurry already! The guards will be here soon.”  
“ of corssse Madame.”

A cry lifted through the ruins, filling the space with horror and fear.  
“ CAPTAIN, THE VICTIM HAS BEEN LOCATED!”  
The aforementioned captain found his right hand standing beside what looked at first what remained of a campfire, until the captain inhaled the scent of charred flesh and blood, a scent he knew all to well.  
“ what in the name of Eleos happened to him?”  
“ looks to me sir, like he was cut open, disemboweled, and burned. Poor guy didn’t die easy.”  
“You don’t say kid. Go get a megisra, they can clean him up enough to bury.” The captain watched to soldier run off, then clasped his hands together somderly.  
“ sorry old friend, looks like our pact didn’t pan out. Rest east Portarm, I’ll take in your girls. Tell Vemilo i said hello, along with the other guys, okay?”  
He heard a wail come from the road, and knew the girls have been told about their father. He racer back out the hole in the wall just in time to see the girls running towards him. He stopped them from going in and carried them back, barely able to keep the withering children in his arms. This is the fourth family to be orphaned on this side of flumeoppidum. Who doomed our world?


	3. Crude awakenings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The story finally picks up here, no more dragging my feet! Time to get this going!

“ Raven, what do you mean we need barrier nodes? The umbrae can't get through our fence as is, we'll be fine.”  
“ No, tyroc, listen the country guards said we will need them, to keep the Circulo infurni from coming onto the property. We have to think about the kids, ty!”  
“ raven I am- wait we have to keep WHAT off the property?”  
“ they are pockets of infernum that made it through the rift on Dies Mortis, they show you your biggest fear or dread or regret. Some can't handle it and eam sibi-“  
“ ok, ok I’ll head out and get the nodes, you keep an eye on Jy and Mar.”  
“I will”

Jydyn walked back to the barn, the sun going down and the moon, pale blue as the sky around it darkens, rises behind him. The green glow of the nodes proved they were safe, unlike so many who couldn’t make it to the guard station that day. Jydyn shivered thinking about the people who had died by the wagon loads from these dark patches that move across the ground like a stalking animal, constantly watching. He put his pitchfork back on his tool rack and ran to the house as Aunt Raven called out,  
“ Jydyn! Kanimarly! Dinner!”  
Jydyn ducked into the doorway, barely missing the hanging strings from the drying wire, a new thing for him with his new height. He wasn’t the only one who had to dodge the strings, tyroc tried to duck under the wires but he clipped it with his wing, causing the pots and pans to crash and click together. Raven yelled from the kitchen,  
“ tyroc be careful! There are knives hanging up there!”  
“ Sorry, dear! I'll keep an eye out.”  
Jydyn cast an eye around the room before he asked,  
“ Hey, where's Mar at? Wasn’t she just out at the coop?”  
“ yes then she went to check the horses before dinner, don't worry she'll be here any second now-“  
The midnight purple-haired girl hopped through the door,  
“ Sorry, I’m late! Bucky wasn’t going in the stall so I had to work him in.”  
The four laughed at the image of this large stallion being wrangled by a petite farm girl for a moment before raven came in, bearing a steaming pot smelling of sweet roots and saborji. They ate in between jokes and stories from that day, there is never a dull day on the Depor Ranch.

“ roll call ladies! Line up northward!”  
A troupe of girls marched to the wall from their bunks, still yawning from sleep.  
“ ok thank you, now Layli?”  
A brunette, still wiping her eyes call out,  
“ here miss”  
“ Wonderful, thank you. Mykie?”  
“ here miss” a short green-haired girl yawned.  
“ Good, good, Teank?”  
Golden eyes blinked from the shadows for a moment, processing the words the woman called before she responded.  
“ ok thank you, Myath?”  
A grunt from the tallest girl,  
“ Alright, Tyon?”  
“ Here, miss!”  
“ You're quite awake this morning, anyways, Ao?”  
“ here miss” a nervous stutter came from the shortest of the group.  
“ thank you, dear, now, the twins?”  
Shinee and Shiar chimed in unison,  
“ here ma’am”  
The white-robed woman nodded and after putting the paper on the table beside her she said,  
“ Alright ladies, we are doing some magia training with some nodes today, please dress in your ward rodes today so we can stay safe. Ao and Myath, since you are the only two with Modi we will need to make some alterations so just wear your normal robes and meet Mrs. Haroww at the seams station to have them fixed. You have one hour until first meal so please be sure to make it on time, I will remind you at half, line dismissed.”  
The girls returned to their bunks with a chime of,  
“ yes, Ms. Krow!”  
and got ready for a long day of spells and chimes.

The dinner hall was brighter than normal, either from the windows being recently cleaned or there being almost no one being in the hall. Shiar cast her eyes around suspiciously and mumbled,  
“ where is everyone? Only our dorms are here,” thinking for a moment she added,  
“It’s evaluation day isn’t it?”  
Shinee laughed quietly and nodded. The eight girls devoured their first meal, knowing they would need as much energy as they could get. After a quick stretch and warm up the girls were placed in front of nodes, cold and dark glass orbs sat quietly in the stand, either dark gold or old bronze decorated the dark wood stand. Ms. Krow stood in front of Layli, dark blue robes fluttering in the breeze. A grumpy looking woman stood in front of Mykie, Mrs. Ingo stood before Teank, glaring the dark girl down. A short woman from the archery hall stood in front of Myath’s stand, waiting for the girl to return from the seams room, Ao’s stand was empty as well, the teacher missing. Tyon was smiling at the old woman before her, the kind teacher from the garden classes. Which left Shinee and Shiar with the kind woman from the dining hall and the crotchety old bat from the caster room. Shinee had the dining hall matron, Mrs. Mannir, while shiar was left with the old witch, Ms. Garto. This is not going to be fun. 

Mar ran towards the house, bucket of cow feed forgotten as she ran towards safety, persuaded by a black patch racing across the grass.  
“ Mar! You’re almost there! Hurry up!” Jydyn watched from beyond the nodes as his sister practically flew across the field, panic clear as day in her eyes as the circelo infurni gained ground. Mar reached for a tree branch, trying to get off the ground. Her fingers brushed the branch as the ground fell away from her feet, the black chasm swallowing her as she screamed.  
“ MAR!”  
Jyden was grabbed from behind, Raven shouting in his ear,  
“ JYDYN STOP! Listen to me Jy, your uncle is going to get her out, we just have to stay here out of the way ok?”  
“It took her! I have to help her! Let me go!”  
Raven sighed, before she locked her arms around the boy and dragged him back towards the barn as he cried out, trying to get to the hole, now stationary, to get his sister free.

Mar floated in an ethereal haze, black and mahogany red swirled in dark shapes around her as voices echoed around her, deafening everything but her fear. Why didn’t you help us? Why did you get to live while we suffered for so long… you don’t deserve to live! You don’t! You don’t! A distant voice screamed her name, she tried to call back,  
“ Jj- anam! Are you there? Jj- anam! ANYONE?”  
The voices were joined by faces, twisted in agony, screaming silently as visions flashed in front of her eyes. Her village in flames, parents cut to pieces, jydyn being swarmed by hoards of umbrae, raven and tyroc abandoning them to their death, her hands covered in blood and dirt holding a mirror, seeing dark eyes full of malice and a twisted grin on her face. Stop, please stop! This isn’t me! A scream cut from her throat, rich and twisted with horror, a flash of pale green, a deep, instinctive breath, a blinding wave of neon green light surrounded her.  
“ what, what is this?”  
A deafening crack resonated around her, natural light found her, the green glow disappeared as quick as it came, her hand dropped beside her, The ground felt cold behind her as she lay, unmoving and on high alert, waiting for the circelo infurni to return, it didn’t. Arms picked her off the ground, voices called her name, she couldn’t focus on them, only the burning she felt in her chest and stomach.   
“ Mar! Can you hear me? Mar!”  
She snapped back to focus on her uncle’s face, worry worn deep into his features.  
“ tyroc- Umhëa? What was that? That light?”  
She gripped his hand as he stood up, turning towards the house. He breathed a sigh of relief before replying,  
“ that light was you, that was your magia Sïe.”  
Mar blinked in surprise,  
“ But, magia awakens at 10 cycles, I’m more than 12, why would it be late?”  
“ I don’t know Sïe, but you just destroyed that circelo infurni. That’s never been done before.”

“Sïe! Sïe!”  
“ what, Shinee? You aren’t normally this excited”  
“The prophetiäe was spoken! Ms. Krow wants to show us the scripture!”  
“ why would she want to show us? Only those involved will see it…”  
“ We can’t keep her waiting! Come on!” Shinee grabbed her sister and dragged her out of the dorms, heading towards the head-dominus office. The others in the dorm watched to girls leave, curiosity and excitement bubbled under a haze of humble indifference.

‘’ Are you sure she’s alright? She hasn’t come out of the house in weeks, I’m worried Ty…’’  
‘’I know you are raven, but she’ll be fine. She said she saw something so she’s probably just trying to figure out what it means. You know better than me that this kid would sell her soul to study at one of those academies, and she has more qualifications for it than most of the actual students.’’  
‘’ still; I feel like I should just check on her again, let her know we care you know?’’  
“ raven, just leave her alone, you checked on her not even a moment ago and she asked to be left alone. You know she likes distance to deal with her problems so give her that at the very least for today alright?” Tyroc led Raven downstairs, and Mar sighed in relief. Finally, I can finish this in peace… mar looked over her list, mumbling to herself as she did.  
“ backpack, rations, canteens, spare clothes, blanket, savings, med band, and… binder. Is this enough? It should be, right? I'm not leaving forever…”  
Mar looked around the small attic room, at first glance, it looks barely suitable to live in through all the clutter, but the longer you look, the more that mess reveals memories and evidence of her daily life after Dios Mortis. Mar picked up her bag, sliding it behind her door to keep it hidden, and sat at her desk. Sifting through filled journals and stolen newspapers saved from the fire pit downstairs she found her personal journal, worn and clearly held dear, she slid the journal into her hidden bag along with a pen and ink set, just in case I need to write down what the prophet says. She pulled a spare roll of parchment from its roller at the edge of her desk, tearing it with expert precision and she began to write, hand slightly shaking with each word, barely holding back each wave of apologies she felt she needed to write. The sun set soon after, giving way to the white glow of the moon, and the darkness she would spirit herself away into.

Jydyn woke up to the sound of muffled clattering on the side of the house, silent footsteps followed quickly by no noise at all as the feet carried their owner away. What in the name of Acartha was that? Jydyn quickly threw on his rodes and followed the small path shuffled through the grass, like a snake parting a trail in fresh dirt. Jydyn got to the tree line, peering through the trees he saw the few wisps of hair heralding the fleeing of a short person. Wait… that looks like it was… purple? What? Jydyn dared to step across the nodeline to take a closer look when,  
“ JYDYN! KANIMARLY! WHERE ARE YOU!”  
Jydyn rushed back to the house, getting to the door in time to catch Raven before she tripped over the doorframe.  
“ Raven? What’s going on? I just saw someone go into the trees!”  
“ Who? Kanimarly isn't in her bed, I thought she went out to feed bucky but Ty didn’t see her over there.”  
“ what are you two talking about? I’m right here!” Both turned to find a sleepy-eyed Mar standing in the door, blanket wrapping around her shoulders snugly.  
“I was in the main room, reading. I must've fallen asleep. What are you two so worked up about?”  
“ oh thank Eleos! I thought you disappeared. Your brother thought he saw someone go into the woods.”  
“ yea they looked like they had the same hair colour as you… I think anyway.” Mar chuckled and yawned  
“It’s way too dark out to be sure right now, I say we all go to bed and tell the post guards in the morning and see if that fits anyone who broke into any houses nearby.”  
“ Sounds like a plan to me, how about it Raven?” The woman shook her head.  
“ alright… I guess we should head up, goodnight chinhëa.”  
The three ascended the stairs, sparing no glance to the sitting room Mar was in, nor the open window on the side of the house facing the disturbed treeline.

Mar stood at the stream, the nodes glowing behind her reminding her of what she was leaving behind. The sun shown down, promising safety but truly giving none. Mar looked at her reflection, feeling disgusted by what she saw. Why am I like this? Why do I have to go behind everyone’s backs and make them worry all the time? Mar shook themself, snapping themself out of that train of thought. Stop thinking like that! You need to do this, you need to understand what you saw. Mar looked at their hair, flowing like the stream they knelt beside. Taking the small sais at their side, they slashed the purple strands short, around their jawline, leaving one lock long. They cast the cut strands down the stream with a free feeling bubbling up inside of them. They braided the long lock into a travellers braid, ending with a gold bead with their simple little family crest. Mar stood up and ran their fingers through their hair with a grin growing wide across their face. This feels like… me. Like it’s really me! A crunch behind them caused Mar to twirl around, sais drawn at the ready. The figure jumped and said,  
“ Woah! Mar hold on it’s just me!”  
“ Jydyn! Oh my name you scared me! What are you doing out past the nodes?” The boy raised an eyebrow and said,  
“I could ask you the same thing…” he blinked at them for a moment,  
“What’s going on here? What did you do to your hair?”  
“I um… I cut it?”  
“ with what? A hacksaw? It’s crooked”  
“ it is?”  
“ want some help?” It was mars turn to blink in surprise.  
“ you aren’t mad about it? I thought you’d be furious!”  
Jydyn took the sais out of Mar’s hand and said,  
“it’s your hair, not mine! Why would I be mad about it? The only thing wrong with it is it’s not straight!” Mar smiled.  
“I guess I just thought you would react as maturëa and parpëa would’ve. This feels right for me… I feel like myself, you know?” Jydyn nodded, straightening out Mar’s hair with a couple slashes. He looked at mars bag beside them, with a sad smile he asked,  
“ so you’re really leaving? Without saying goodbye to anyone?”  
Mar bit their lip,  
“I left a note for you all, I know I should tell them but they might try to stop me.”  
“ do you think you could stay here for a little bit?”  
“ at the stream? I guess, as long as you don’t tell them alright?”  
“ Okay, be right back.” Jydyn left the small clearing, and mar felt their new haircut smiling at their reflection in the water as loose hair flew past them.  
After a couple of hours of waiting, Mar started to think Jydyn wasn't going to reappear. The boy popped out of the brush on the other side of the stream, new hair cut matching mars and a bag of his own. He grinned, adventure in his eyes.  
“Where to?”

The hours seemed to drag on as the headmistress of the Westpoint Academy spoke to the prophet, trying to understand why she wished to speak to the two girls if they had no connections to the present prophetiäe.  
“I assure you, dominus, the girls will be in good care-“  
“ their care is not my concern! They are here to learn the arts of magia to perfection! Why would you want the twins?”  
“ they hold the trigger to the smoking flintlock of this whole prophetiäe, they must come with me.” The woman looked on as the headmistress grew more exasperated.  
“I cannot allow them to leave, their guardian is our top stakeholder and if they leave we lose all that funding!”  
The prophet looked on with a cold expression.  
“I already spoke to the Captain, he gave me his blessing to take them with me, and that is what I intend to do.” The headmistress sighed, defeated, and called the twins into her office. The two girls bowed in respect and chimed,  
“ it is an honour to be in your presence, your holiness.”  
The prophet smiled and told the girls to rise.  
“ what have you been told?”  
“ We heard through the door, your holiness. I apologize for such an invasion of privacy but the headmistress was quite loud. I assume we are to gather our belongings?”  
The old woman smiled, pleased to see that things were so easy.  
“ yes my child, if you could please.”  
The children left, and the old prophet wobbled her way out the door, smiling to the severe woman fuming behind the desk.  
“ may fate not befall you, my dear, as I see it could.”

Raven sat at the table, two letters in front of her. She read them over for the last time that night, trying to figure out what went wrong. Did we not do enough? Why do they think they can survive all alone out there? Oh, gods what will Ty think when he gets back? Please be safe and come home, I don’t think my heart could handle losing them both again… the letters crackled as Raven gently folded them back up and placed them with the other important papers, name side up. She put out the fire and walked through the quiet house, each second reminding her she was all alone herself. She laid down and found that sleep was far from reach once again. She mulled over the lines she has committed to memory, searching for meaning that would stitch together the whole mystery and make it make sense.

“May I ask why we are being taken, your Holiness?”  
The old woman sighed, not from exasperation but of remembrance.  
“Do you remember much of your Maturëa?” the girls nodded,  
“A small bit, but not much.”  
“Your Maturëa was my pupil when I was a young woman, she learned how to harness her abilities far better than these schools ever could teach. She asked me before Scáthach took her to teach you two when the time came. That time has come now.” the twins looked back at the school, Shiar asked her sister,  
“Do you think that we’ll see everyone again? We practically grew up with them.” Shinee nodded and reassured her sister with a grin,  
“Sure we will! We’ll have to write as well to see how they do, especially Ao and Tyon! I’m sure we can visit as well after we complete our training too.” the prophet called the two girls forward and with a small, childish smile said<  
“Do you know the stories about the ancient lands? And the Great War of Athygar?” both looked confused,  
“Why would we need to know that?”  
“Because they will be the turning point for your training.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed this installment! Things will get more exciting from here on out in my opinion so atay tuned! Ive also began world building with short stories, check my accout out of you want to read them! Only one right now but itll be joined soon by another.


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